Most mobile terminals are equipped with a battery level indicator. A typical indicator visually represents battery level using a plurality of bars, with one bar typically indicating a low capacity, and five bars, for example, indicating a full charged battery. However, battery gauges used in mobile devices are not standardised in any way, and operate using a variety of different methods. Therefore, in view of this disparity, two bars on some terminals will be the same as three or four on others. This leads to terminal users having little idea as to what the battery gauge is actually showing, and how much capacity is in fact available to them.
Further, it is not unusual for the battery level information to be based purely on an estimate of the current drain rate of the application that is currently in progress. This can also lead to consumer confusion, as different applications use different amounts of power and so the visual representation of the battery charge level can vary dramatically over a short period of time.
For instance, if a mobile terminal is on standby, the battery capacity representation may indicate the battery is close to full capacity. If a person then uses the terminal to view, for instance, a multicast service, the battery may decrease markedly, even after only a few of minutes. This can mislead users to cease from using the terminal at all, due to the mistaken belief that the terminal battery is about to run out, and so they need to conserve it in case they need to make an urgent call later before the terminal is recharged.
Even if the battery gauge were to revert to a higher charge level once a user stopped using a high-power application, indicating that more battery life was available, this is still unsatisfactory for most users as it provides little certainty of the actual battery charge level and also no insight into for how long they can use the terminal applications. For network operators, it is also unsatisfactory, as it discourages users from using the terminal applications, and particularly high-value applications such as mobile television.